May Days to Submit Work

When the call to challenge rang out on May 1^st, many of our PAD and MNINB group members paused, took a deep breath, and sighed. I think it would be fair to say that few could believe what they were reading. “Submit at least one piece of work each day for the entire month of May.”

Yep. You saw that right. Some of the group simply can’t comply due to more critical situations at home and at work, but for the rest of us, we’re gamely attempting what seemed like an impossible feat just a few short days ago.

This is day four of this last minute challenge that none had contemplated. We each post on the group sites what we subbed and to which publication, whether online or print, contest or blog, and watch to see who else took the plunge that day.

I have yet to hit the send button today. I have three possibles on the starting line, waiting for a shove into the chute. I have a children’s story that can go out any time. It’s been polished to within a paragraph of existence. I have poems coming out of my ears that can go in nearly any direction. And I have a couple of polished and professionally edited essays that can go out on their own.

There’s a coin I’ve been saving for just such an occasion as this. I’ll do a three-way toss to see which item goes out today. That gives me plenty for the next few days. Who knows? I might send more than on submission out per day and really scare myself.

For those that are timid about subbing and worry about those nasty rejection emails, don’t be. Take a page from my post today on Claudsy’s Blog. Make that rejection your best friend. Embrace it. Plaster your wall with it and its friends. Proudly show that wall to family and friends and declare “See how much work I’ve sent out!”

If you’ve chosen to accept such a challenge as this, comment here. Tell me about your personal submission challenge. If you don’t have one, but want to try it, feel free. Post a comment here each day you’ve braved the “SEND” button and sent out a piece of work. I’ll gladly help you show the world how much you’re working on the craft.

Until later, keep writing while you enjoy the process,

Claudsy

Karma, Kalispell, and Settling Back In

Getting settled back into an apartment after being on the road for five months has its dual impressions. It’s nice to be stationary for more than a few days at a time, but at the same time it presents its own set of limitations, expectations, and curses.

When you’re on the road, if you don’t appreciate the music played by those at the next “home” site, you pick up and move the car to another site. That’s not possible with an apartment. If the neighbors fight a lot, we would have had the same recourse and the same dilemma in an apartment. The police seem an awful resort to call upon, but…

So far we’ve found ourselves with great neighbors downstairs from us. He’s helping us move in our stuff from storage. Anyone who lives above the ground floor knows what a bonus that one is.

The odd part about that is that last December Jo and I were downtown finishing up some last minute preparations just before leaving on the road. She’d just taken our Kalispell Clock snowstorm photo and we’d gone to the library for a few minutes. When we came out, we were approached by a younger man who desperately needed a lift back to his apt. complex. Seems he lived in the same one we did.

Of course, we gave him a lift. He would have frozen if he’d tried to walk home. His mother couldn’t come back to pick him up for a couple of hours. We made a stop at Wal-Mart on the way home. He came in with us to stay warm. We all made it home without incident.

And now that younger man is determined to show his appreciation for our act of kindness. What’s that old statement about “what goes around comes around”? We didn’t have a clue that it would possibly come back so quickly or be so wonderfully timely.

We’re taking it slow with the bringing our stuff in. We need the time to get things put away. And since I had a wee accident a bit over a week ago and bummed my knee, I’m no use whatsoever in the moving experience, except for feeling guilty that I can’t help.

We definitely don’t want me trying to bring anything up or down the concrete stairs. I’m not stable right now on level ground, so helping is out of the question. As a result, my cane and I sit, trying to remain out of everyone’s way. Putting my office/bedroom together and getting it back up and running is going to take a bit more time than originally planned, I’m afraid.

On top of all that, I haven’t yet found the power cord for my desktop computer. I have everything else but that one cord. Until I can find that I can’t get myself into my big computer. Thank God for a little brother who loves me and is generous.

The cable guy came this morning to connect the internet. Guess what! It still isn’t working. Oh, the service comes in but our computers aren’t recognized by it and the security key we use isn’t recognized by the system as viable. So here we sit with more computers than many small businesses and we can’t use the internet that’s flowing into the apartment. Whew! Finally found the problem. Almost had a coronary there for a minute.

How’s that for irony. We’ve been pulling the net in from the open air for nearly three weeks and still can’t get regular net in the apartment. It’s great having a business across the street with public wi-fi that we can use, but we’d like to have our own now. God willing we’ll have that problem taken care of before noon.

There you have a peek at our day so far. I’ll leave you with one piece of advice. Kindness comes around unexpectedly and from the oddest corners. Remember our downstairs neighbor? One of his predecessors in that apartment helped us move in to the previous apartment we had here. Now you have the rest of the story.

Until later,

Claudsy